The family of late Gogglebox star George Gilbey have exceed their fundraising target for his funeral after initially struggling to draw in donations.
George, 40, died following an incident at work in Essex last month, with tributes quickly pouring in for the late reality TV star. In the wake of the dad-of-one's death, a GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for George's funeral.
The unverified page, seemingly set up by a friend of George's family, had been struggling to meet its £5,000 target, but received a flurry of donations over recent hours - smashing it's goal and currently standing at £5,562 on Wednesday morning.
"Hi my name is Rob Barlow, I work for Clacton funeral service," the description of the fundraiser begins with. "As a friend of the family, I have been asked on behalf of Linda, George’s mum to set up this go fund me page so we can give George the send off he deserves.
"I know his passing has come to a shock for a lot of people, he was such a big character in life and is going to be sorely missed by friends, family and all who knew him. I think I can safely say we all enjoyed watching him on GoggleBox, Big brother and all his other TV appearances."
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It concludes: "Anything you can donate would be a great help to the family so thank you in advance, all money will go to Linda to pay for his funeral costs and any funds that are left over after will be given to George’s 8 year old daughter Amelie. The funeral date is still to be confirmed and will be updated in due course."
Gogglebox star Linda McGarry is said to be devastated following the death of her son (Instagram)George tragically passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning on 27th March at his workplace. Essex Police confirmed they were called to the scene in Shoebury. According to their statement, a man working at height had suffered an injury from a fall and died at the scene. A subsequent arrest was made on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with George's untimely death.
The late star quickly won over fans when he and his family joined the Gogglebox cast for series two in 2013. The charming Essex family took a hiatus from the Channel 4 show in 2014, during which George tried his luck on Celebrity Big Brother, making it to the final that same year.
Speaking to the Mirror last month, one of George's Celebrity Big Brother housemates revealed that George's mum Linda McGarry had been on an emotional rollercoaster following the tragic death of her only child. Family friend and Geordie Shore star Ricci Guarnaccio revealed that Linda has been overwhelmed with messages of condolences after her son's sudden passing and shared how she wishes for her late son to be remembered.
"I'm broken, just devastated," Ricci confessed while speaking to the Mirror in the days following George's death. The reality TV star, who starred alongside George in Celebrity Big Brother in 2014, continued: "I've just got off the phone to Lin[da] and we had a laugh and a cry and went through every emotion. She wants to send a thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences and shared their happy memories of George."
Ricci added: "It's tough for her. To lose Pete [Linda's husband and George's stepdad] then her 40-year-old son... a rollercoaster of emotions. But she wants George to be remembered in a nice way. He was found in a pub and shot to fame in Gogglebox - he was one of the ogs."
George's funeral fundraiser has now hit its £5k target (Go Fund Me)"Then he went into the Big Brother house alongside myself and we all just clicked. He got on with everyone. I remember him walking around [the house] and he was saying 'what the f*** am I doing in here with all you?' He was a ball of light. Obviously, we were a similar age and lads so we we spent a lot of time together when we left the house.
"I spoke to him last week, wanted me to post for his friend's daughter - he was always looking out for people," Ricci remembered. "He loved his daughter more than anything in the entire world and I think that is what's most devastating," the Geordie Shore star continued. "A mother has lost her son and a young daughter will have to bury her father."
Ricci went on to tell us how he planned to see George's mother ASAP. "There's obviously an inquest going on , so the funeral won't be happening straight away. I'll be making sure she's alright and checking in," the grieving reality TV star explained. "It's still fresh and really raw. He was 40. It doesn't feel real. The type of person he was, he wasn't a 40 year old in head, he was a young man still. He wanted to live life to the fullest. He was always smiling and laughing. He always cared. It was always him reaching out and keeping in touch with everyone."
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